Archive of Our Own

Izuku zips his bag shut after putting his favorite- his only, but favorite, plushie inside and sliding the pack onto his back with only a bit of hesitation. He didn’t have a lot of items, and he didn’t necessarily have to pack all of his things since he planned on coming back but… He was protective of the only things he owned. So, since it all fits, it comes with him. He should probably count himself lucky that they all fit in the first place, he couldn’t imagine leaving anything behind.

His foster parents might think he ran away though if they see all his things gone… He’s unsure if they’d really care that much, or maybe they’d care too much- considering they never want him to leave the house. They were… Not really protective. More like they didn’t want to get in trouble in case their only ‘Prey’ hybrid child got eaten while playing outside.

It was a stupid mindset. They had a fence outside and the foster parents could always watch him! His last foster parents did that. Well. It was more like they kept him outside with a very tall fence he couldn’t climb over and refused to let him in until someone was coming to check on him.

He wasn’t there long, at least. Only a month. But at least he got to be outside there.

He’s been here for almost a year now, and the only time they’ve let him out was whenever another foster sibling couldn’t watch him and they needed to go to the store. They didn’t trust him to be on his own and not try to get out of the house.

Izuku really hopes he gets transferred to a new foster home soon, but being fourteen meant he was probably going to be here for much longer- other places don’t like to take older kids like him.

Ever since he hit twelve he’s been passed around so much as they tried to find a proper home that would actually want him that he hasn’t been able to go to get any form of education. He feels so embarrassed every time his foster siblings comment on his intelligence. It wasn’t his fault he was behind.

Izuku shakes his head of these thoughts, and stands up from his bed with his backpack firmly on his back.

He was going to go exploring tonight. While his foster parents and siblings slept. And no one was going to stop him. 

He wants to see what he’s been missing for the past year.

Izuku is very quiet as he exits the small room he was given, his foster parents didn’t want him to share with the other kids that were… ‘Predators’.

Their mindset was uh, strange. To Izuku. Not that there wasn’t… Prejudicism in the world, there was still quite a bit of it. People just think that predators would eat the prey. But something like that hasn’t happened in a while, and when it did it was usually because the hybrid was a known killer anyways. So it really wasn’t about being a predator, but people like to ignore that.

Prey, sadly, is treated very delicately no matter what.

Thus brings Izuku to his situation.

Being in a biased family and never leaving the house.

The Jackalope hybrid sighs, ears pinned to his head as he sneaks across the living room and towards the front door. But a hand suddenly grabs his shoulder and he has to stop himself from letting out a yelp.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His foster sibling, Monoma stares at him with a glare, and it makes Izuku flinch lightly. “Well? Don’t lie to me, because I’m sure the adults would LOVE to hear about this.” The fox hybrid grins, making Izuku pout because he knows that his foster sibling would tell on him just because he likes to be the bratty favorite.

“U-um.. I…” Izuku debates on lying, but he knows it wouldn’t end well- he has a backpack and he was already at the front door…

“You what? Hm?? I sure hope you’re not planning on running away- you know that they’d have you found within a day. The poor little prey can’t die on their watch- it’d be bad for their status.” Monoma laughs, though he’s not loud enough to wake anyone up.

“N-No! I’m.. I wanted to go outside… To explore.. I haven’t been out in.. U-um.. A few months.. I think.” Izuku looks down at his pawed feet, and misses Monoma’s momentarily shocked look. “I’ll go back to my room now though I’m s-sorry..” Izuku moves to go back to his room, but then his arm is grabbed and Izuku looks up at the fox with a confused look.

“No!- I mean,” Monoma releases the Jackalope’s arm and sighs, looking off to the side. “Just go, be back as soon as you see the sun come up, got it?” The fox continues to look away so he doesn’t see the way Izuku brightens a considerably large amount.

“Really..? You won’t tell on me..?” Izuku questions, eyes pleading when Monoma looks back and.

Monoma feels like he’s fucked up the entire time Izuku has been here.

“I won’t, just go. If you’re not back by sunrise I’ll distract them for a bit. Just go before you run out of exploring time.” Monoma huffs, pretending like this is an inconvenience to him but really it’s not.

“Th-thank you! So much,” Izuku squeaks out, leaving out the front door rather quickly after that, not wanting to chance anything and have Monoma change his mind at the last minute.

The jackalope dashes up to the fence’s gate, but frowns when realizing it would probably make that horrible loud noise it makes every time it opens…

So instead he tosses his backpack over first, then bounces in place to prepare himself before jumping up and over the fence. He lets out a little laugh when he realizes what he just did and grabs his backpack to quickly put it back on and run forward straight towards the forest.

A sort of giddiness explodes inside of him, making him giggle to himself as he runs along, eyes wandering across the trees and flowers. He could hear so many sounds around him- mostly ones of the night like crickets and the occasional ‘hoo’ of an owl. The wind was light tonight, so it just barely rustled the leaves around him, but it left a cool breeze on his face that made him smile.

Izuku soon comes across two pathways, and one leads to what looks like to be deeper into the forest, while the other is just vaguely familiar to the path his foster parents took him to the store that one time.

..His foster parents told him how dangerous the deep forest was, but.. He’d much rather not go into town right now when he’s exploring, plus- his foster parents lied a lot to ‘protect’ him. They probably lied about this too.

So he takes the path into the deeper forest and lets out a big laugh, knowing that no one was going to hear his joy so he released it freely.

Izuku comes to a stop when he’s pretty deep into the trees, and lets out a gasp when seeing an old bridge going across a large cliff with a big river at the very bottom.

He’s never seen anything like this before.

The Jackalope goes forward with caution, going down on all fours and looking over the edge in curiosity. His eyes widen at the running river, ears going up when he hears a rather large splash- he turns his head in time to see another fish jump up then back down into the water.

He looks away when he starts to get too invested in just watching fish, because he couldn’t just spend his entire time out doing that. He had more to explore. His gaze shifts to the old bridge and he gets a probably bad idea. The jackalope hops over to the front of the bridge, gripping the support on the sides of it and extending his foot forward to push it down on one of the wood planks. When it seems sturdy enough, he tries taking a step forward and wiggles in place happily when it doesn’t break. 

The Jackalope starts slowly going forward, skipping any wood planks that even creak too much.

He’s halfway across the bridge when he hears a growl that makes his ears turn in the direction of it, then immediately pin to his head when he spots something that’s definitely not a hybrid.

A wolf. Staring at him at the other edge of the bridge. It’s growling in a warning, daring the Jackalope to come closer and see what happens.

Izuku promptly turns around in order to go back but then freezes when there’s another wolf there.

They had him trapped on the bridge.

“Please don’t hurt me,” Izuku says, voice shaking with every word. He looks back and forward, then he looks over the edge- is… Would the river be deep enough for him to jump?

But his backpack would get wet-

Another growl, and one of the wolves step forward-

Izuku feels frozen in place, and he squeezes his eyes shut tight with a whine- trying to hype himself to possibly jump- but then there’s another growl that doesn’t sound anything like the other two that make him look up with wide, fearful eyes.

The trembling Jackalope’s gaze meets the ones of an angry Leopard hybrid, and he doesn’t exactly feel relief from that quite yet. He ends up sitting down and hugging the side of the bridge, trying to look as small as possible as this other hybrid scares away the wolves.

He’s still shaking even when the wolves are gone, and he stares directly at this leopard hybrid who’s now slowly making his way over to him. Izuku whines when they get too close, which makes them stop and just lower themselves down.

“I’m not gonna hurt you.” The other Hybrid mumbles, eyes only lit in concern when Izuku hides his face. “My name is Hitoshi, can I get your name..?”

Izuku, although still afraid, murmurs his name out- though quiet, it’s loud enough for Hitoshi to hear.

“Okay Izuku, it’s nice to meet you. Though I think I would’ve wanted to meet you under better circumstances…”  Hitoshi hums, and when Izuku peaks up he sees that small grin on the Leopard’s face that makes him flush in embarrassment. “Crap, now I really wish I met you differently. You’re really cute, y’know. Very pretty eyes too.” Hitoshi purrs out, making Izuku blush further and look down to the ground.

But then, “S-sorry.” Izuku mumbles, “I d-don’t know how to r-respond , I'm really scared..”

Hitoshi instantly melts, and instantly feels bad. “No-! Ah shit, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that, I thought it’d distract you from.. Yeah. How about we get off this bridge and I walk you home?”

Izuku shakes his head immediately, slowly standing up on shaky legs and gripping the side of the bridge for support as he tries to calm himself down. “I want… I want to keep exploring.” He states, though still in a wobbly way.

“Er, I’m sorry what? It’s.. You were exploring out here? In the middle of the night? Can’t you like, do that during the day?” Hitoshi questions, eyebrow raised as Izuku pouts at looks over the edge of the bridge.

“I don’t… I can’t… I can’t explore d-during the day.” Izuku mumbles, averting eye contact at all costs with this hybrid. Especially when he feels himself being looked over.

“You.. What does that..” Hitoshi looks to the backpack on the Jackalope’s back, then to the way that Izuku is avoiding looking at him. As if he didn’t want the Leopard to know something. “Did you run away…?”

Izuku looks up at that rather quickly and shakes his head rapidly. “N-no! I was g-going back! They just d-don’t let me outside…”

“Like, at all? They don’t let you outside at all?” Hitoshi needs for this to be clear, because there’s no way- right?

“I don’t w-want to talk about it…” 

Shit. So that’s a yes. “You have to be going to school right? At Least?”

Izuku stays silent.

Hitoshi blinks. “Izuku that’s. That’s child abuse. I-”

“No! It- It’s n-normal!” Izuku protests, eyes getting watery when he finally makes eye contact with Hitoshi. “It- It’s just something I have to deal with..”

“Izuku… Shit..” Hitoshi frowns deeply, then lets out a long sigh. “I- you said you want to explore more, right?”

Izuku gives a confused look at that, but nods slowly to the question.

“Then let me help you, yeah? I think after saving you from wolves we can trust each other at least a little.” The Leopard extends his hand as an offering to the Jackalope along with a reassuring smile, and Izuku fidgets- unsure and still rather anxious but…

Something is pulling him to take Hitoshi’s hand, despite his brain screaming at him that this is wrong- that this is a stranger but- Hitoshi looked like he was his age- another kid, still a stranger. But another kid. It’s always been the adults that have lied to him, the kids were usually bluntly honest and rude in foster care, but at least they were truthful about what they said. 

Hitoshi was still different somehow. But he wasn’t afraid of him, like he thinks he should be. His instincts are telling him to trust rather than run.

…

Izuku slides his hand into Hitoshi’s, something relaxing inside of him when the Leopard hybrid has a look of relief- as if a part of him was happy that Hitoshi didn’t look upset in any way any more. 

It makes him feel a funny way knowing that Hitoshi had been upset- but not at him, rather, for him. That he’d feel that way over Izuku being in this sort of situation.

“Y-you promise I’ll be able to explore more…?” Izuku questions as Hitoshi starts to lead them off the bridge and to safe ground. 

The Leopard Hybrid squeezes Izuku’s hand lightly, a singular thought most likely causing him to do so as he looks back at Izuku once and his eyes go soft at the sight of those uncertain, anxious big green eyes. “I promise you’ll be able to go outside as much as you want, and see more than just this forest.” 

Izuku visibly brightens, and his eyes go watery again. He doesn’t quite smile yet, but with Hitoshi now dragging him everywhere- he thinks he’ll get there.

They end up in another town not so far from Izuku’s foster home, and the Jackalope hides behind Hitoshi as he knocks on a house door. Hitoshi is still holding his hand, not letting go as to provide a sort of security for the other boy. Izuku is grateful for this, and also grateful that Hitoshi is letting him be as close as he is right now.

The door opens, revealing a very tired looking man- and panther hybrid, as it would appear. He eyes the two boys for a moment, squinting longer at Izuku before shifting his gaze back to Hitoshi with a raised eyebrow.

“So, you found your soulmate hm?” Is the first thing that he says and it immediately makes Hitoshi’s eyes widen.

“I- uh- what?” Hitoshi chokes out, staring long and hard at this man with a ‘what the fuck’ look, then inhaling sharply. “You’re joking again, aren’t you? You totally are.” The Leopard hybrid accuses, pointing a finger with the hand that’s not holding Izuku’s and pouting.

The tired man just looks back at Izuku who’s so confused and starting to look like he’s about to cry before looking back to Hitoshi again. “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not. You’ll just have to figure that out for yourself.” He shrugs, and steps back once then to the side in order to leave enough room for the two to enter. “Come in and tell me what’s going on and why you woke me up at… Two? Three? In the morning?”

“S-Sorry…” Izuku mumbles out, now looking down to the ground which makes both Hitoshi and the Tired man look over to him in concern.

“It’s not your fau-” “-You’ve got nothing to apologize for.”

Both Hitoshi and the Panther hybrid blink at each other after talking at the same time, the Panther hybrid just sighing out, “Just get inside. Come on.”

Izuku and Hitoshi are quick to go inside and be led to the living room. They sit on the rather comfy couch and Izuku fidgets under this man’s stare while Hitoshi seems to be prepping himself on what to say.

The Panther Hybrid disappears into the kitchen for a moment, and comes back with a cup of coffee to sit down on the couch chair with. He then gestures for Hitoshi to speak, which makes the Leopard breath in then-

“Izuku, this is Shouta, or uh, Aizawa as he prefers if you’re not his husband-” Aizawa sends a deadpan look to Hitoshi and Hitoshi just continues, “Aizawa this is Izuku. I found him on a bridge in the middle of the night surrounded by wolves, yes I did just meet him but- I helped him out.” The Leopard Hybrid decides to not tell the entire story at once, not wanting to stress out Izuku or give Aizawa too much information at once. He’d rather introduce what he had in mind slowly, so then hopefully Aizawa would be more inclined to agree.

...As for what he had planned, well…

“That must have been scary for you, Izuku.” Aizawa says in a much more softer tone than he carried earlier, now knowing the cause of Izuku’s overall stressed posture and anxious wandering eyes. Izuku just shrugs in response, his ears, which had been pinned to his head for the majority of this entire night so far slightly relax. This is when Aizawa starts really essentially analyzing Izuku, eyes searching across the boy who’s still trying to make himself look small by raising his legs up onto the couch and resting his head on top of furred knees. He still hasn’t let go of Hitoshi’s hand either, and Aizawa’s gaze seems to linger on the hands holding before looking away towards the top of Izuku’s head and squinting. “Are your antlers normally that small?”

Izuku freezes.

Aizawa frowns, an immediate red flag arising in his mind. But he doesn’t say anything yet, just waits for either Izuku or Hitoshi to speak up so he can figure out why they came here instead of going to Izuku’s house after such a scare.

Because that doesn’t point to anything good either.

“N-no um.. They stopped g-growing when I was eleven.. I think.. After one of…” Izuku looks off to the side, seemingly remembering something he doesn’t want to remember. He doesn’t continue, instead just shakes his head and looks back to Aizawa with untrusting eyes.

Aizawa nods his head slowly, okay. 

So Hitoshi brought him a traumatized child is what he’s getting from this.

The panther hybrid raises an eyebrow to Hitoshi, and the Leopard hybrid seems to be having his own realization over this as well.

“I… Izuku I told you that I’d help you so you can explore as much as you want and.. I thought Aizawa was the best person for that.” Hitoshi says after a moment, then reaches over and grab’s Izuku’s other hand and looks him in the eyes. “You probably barely trust me, I mean, scratch that- I don’t think you really trust me at all yet. I get it, we just met- and I doubt you’re going to trust Aizawa right away either. But if it counts for something at all- I trust him a lot. He uh, he helped me find a good family. And if it’s okay, I want him to help you do the same thing.”

Izuku stares blankly, too many emotions flicker through him to really handle any one of them so he just slowly nods- because he does want this he just.. He doesn’t know if he really deserves it. But Hitoshi did save him and… He was desperate enough.

He wants to have his freedom back.

“Hitoshi, Explain.” Aizawa states, though not too harshly as his eyes remain on Izuku who is sinking into himself quite a bit in order to hide and gather his thoughts.

Hitoshi merely just lets go of one of Izuku’s hands, keeping one in his grip in a protective manner and opening his mouth to explain.

By the end of the conversation, Hitoshi reluctantly leaves Izuku with Aizawa. Izuku is still scared and confused, but the Leopard is a little relaxed at the sight of Izuku clutching Aizawa’s hand and listening with an almost curious look as Aizawa talks to him softly as he leaves.

Yeah, he was in safe hands.

A few weeks go by. During that time Aizawa takes Izuku in, deeming any foster home and families unfit for the Jackalope that needed a lot of care and most importantly- hugs. They all were either in it just for the money, didn’t want to take care of a prey with small antlers, or just weren’t a very warm place at all.

Hitoshi was lucky to get a loving family to take him in, his Mother Nemuri and her wife were good friends of Aizawa- and originally weren’t looking for a kid but when Hitoshi showed up as his sassy eight-year old self, they instantly fell in love.

The Leopard thinks the same thing happened when he brought Izuku to Aizawa, when Hitoshi was found by Aizawa… Hitoshi had a little bit of a connection with the man, and he knows that he definitely would’ve taken him in if no one else wanted him- but he doesn’t think Aizawa was ready for a kid- especially one at his age back then. And now that he brought Izuku, a scared fourteen year old who just really needs some love and help, Hitoshi saw that connection happen rather quickly.

Even if Aizawa initially looked for another home for Izuku, it doesn’t seem like he was planning on truly giving up the Jackalope in the first place.

How ironic it is that Izuku’s foster home wanted to keep him away from predators and he ended up being adopted by one.

Oh, and Aizawa’s husband. But his husband Hizashi- well, he was a Bell bird hybrid. 

Hizashi also fell in love with Izuku pretty quickly, he was the one that convinced Aizawa to just go through with it after a few days of no success with other homes. But now Hizashi had to learn how to be rather quiet for the Jackalope, seeing as Izuku didn’t really like loud noises- rather enjoying soft tones and gentleness.

Something that Aizawa specialized in.

Hitoshi thinks about all this as he jogs to Aizawa’s home to visit his now good friend. He was pretty pleased with himself for being able to help Izuku- a boy he barely knew weeks ago and now knows perhaps too well but… He enjoyed the Jackalope’s presence from the start, he just had this soft aura around him that made Hitoshi soft too.

Or maybe Aizawa was right about Izuku being his soulmate and he just felt that soul bound connection.

..Or Aizawa was seriously joking about being able to see ‘red threads’ and how they connect people who are soulmates and Hitoshi has been believing it for far too long.

Hmph.

Hitoshi knocks on the door once he arrives, and is pleased when Izuku answers with an overly bright smile.

“Hi Toshi!” Izuku practically chirps out, ears up and very much expressive with every emotion Izuku has. They swivel in different directions at the sounds he hears outside, and every little movement of Hitoshi himself.

“Hey Bun.” Hitoshi purrs with his own laid back smile, “Wanna go to the waterfall with me today?” The Leopard questions, eyes swirling in amusement when the Jackalope immediately starts bouncing in place.

“Y-Yes! Let me go ask Zawa,” Annnnd he’s gone. The door is shut in Hitoshi’s face for a good few minutes, but he thinks he can hear an overly excited Jackalope’s voice and the very tired dad respond with a large amount of fondness. There’s no sign of the loud dad at this time of the day, but if he was here Hitoshi thinks that he’d be very enthusiastic and… Well, Loud right now.

The door suddenly swings back open and Izuku is grabbing his hand enthusiastically, dragging the Leopard away from the house with a huge amount of energy.

Hitoshi just lets himself be dragged, but soon they’re walking side by side and the Leopard listens to Izuku ramble on and on about where Aizawa took him yesterday- apparently to a very pretty forest with lots of flowers. The topic switches to school rather quickly when Izuku remembers something he learned about flowers, and Hitoshi just knows that being home schooled by Aizawa was far by the best thing for Izuku.

The Jackalope was a very quick learner, eager to get as much information as he could and Aizawa was good at keeping up with the hyper boy. He had a considerably large amount of patience- and Hitoshi admired that.

Izuku squeezes Hitoshi’s hand when the Leopard stopped paying attention for even a moment, and Hitoshi looks up to see the pout that Izuku carries.

He just lets out a fond laugh, “Sorry, got a little distracted about how adorable you are when you ramble.” Hitoshi hums, squeezing Izuku’s hand back when the boy lets out an embarrassed noise.

“Y-you can’t just keep saying things like that Toshi…” Izuku whines, still not used to the amount of compliments Hitoshi just drops on him all the time. He blushes further when Hitoshi laughs softly, ears drooping in a cute way that matches his flushed expression.

“I think I have a right to say it when you’re being as cute as you are right now,” Hitoshi says so casually and before Izuku can respond with another whine he gestures forward, “We made it, by the way.”

Izuku turns his gaze away from the ground and up, and he immediately starts hopping up and down in place- ears swerving upwards as he looks back and forward between Hitoshi and the waterfall in front of them. “Can… Can we… Can…” Izuku waves his hand in front of himself rapidly and Hitoshi snorts.

“Go for it bun, I’m right behind you.” Hitoshi says fondly, watching Izuku dash forward immediately- tugging his clothes off and splashing into the water. It makes Hitoshi snort and trail after the Jackalope, taking off his own clothes before letting himself be dragged into the water by an eager hand.

“The water’s so warm!” Izuku squeaks, splashing his hand once and hitting Hitoshi in the face with water which makes the Leopard raise an eyebrow at the sheepish looking Izuku, “Oops.”

“Mhm. ‘Oops’.” Hitoshi mocks playfully and splashes Izuku back, making the Jackalope squeal and giggle, immediately splashing Hitoshi with a bigger ‘sploosh’ and trying to speedily swim away. But the Leopard is faster, recovering quick and diving forward. He wraps his arms around Izuku’s middle and lifts him up, the Jackalope letting out a yelp at the suddenness of it, “Toshi nooooooo!” He whines out dramatically, squealing again when he’s thrown into the water.

When the Jackalope emerges from under the water he has the biggest pout, but softens when he hears Hitoshi laughing. He shoves aside his damp hair away from his face and looks at the Leopard with the softest of eyes. Izuku has seen Hitoshi laugh before but… 

He was laughing a lot.. Even wheezing at one point and it makes the Jackalope smile real wide. And when Hitoshi finally stops his laughter, he catches Izuku’s stare and immediately goes breathless. 

His smile…

God okay, maybe Izuku was his soulmate.

“Wanna go under the waterfall Toshi?” Izuku questions, ever the energetic bun and focus never staying in one place for too long but…

“Sure, but can I give you something first?” Hitoshi raises a hand, and Izuku’s head tilts just as the Leopard’s hand makes contact with his cheek to cradle it gently.

“What i-is it?” Izuku asks shyly, not really paying too much to the sudden contact until Hitoshi leans in real close.

“Mm, I don’t want to do this without asking… But I really want to kiss you if that’d be ok-” Hitoshi gets cut off real quick when Izuku bonks his head against his own and squeaks, 

“I’m so sorry!! I tried to k-kiss you but-”

“Izuku it’s okay,” Hitoshi laughs, rubbing his forehead lightly. “You’re excitable, I probably should’ve expected that…”

Izuku still blushes red, ears drooping slightly as Hitoshi takes his cheek into his hand again and leans forward. At first their noses just touch, Izuku’s eyes fluttering closed and Hitoshi just watching Izuku’s soft expression. Then the Leopard connects their lips, the kiss being very gentle and warm.

Something explodes in both of them and when they pull away they both giggle giddily, it was messy.. Them both being just teenagers but.. It still carried a large amount of fondness and care for each other.

“I’m sorry if it was too soon but…” Hitoshi sheepishly says, rubbing the back of his head with a small smile.

“N-no, it was perfect, I… You’re my first um.. You’re my first love… But I’m.. I’m Happy.” Izuku has a little trouble explaining, but Hitoshi seems to get it- ruffling Izuku’s hair and gesturing to the waterfall.

“Want to take a shower?”

Izuku snorts, “We don’t have soap here..”

“It’s nature, you don’t need soap in nature.” Hitoshi grins, swimming towards the waterfall with lazy strokes and Izuku rolling his eyes and following.

“That’s gross, Toshi.” 

“Animals are still pretty clean though when you think about it.”

“We’re not really animals though…”

“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just say that.”

Izuku giggles at that, swimming underneath the waterfall and squealing when the waterfall hits his head- making his ears go down and hair cover his face.

“Well now you look like a drowned rabbit.” Hitoshi comments, making Izuku splash water in his direction and the Leopard laugh. 

“..You don’t look any better,” Izuku huffs when he moves from underneath the rushing water and moves aside his hair, “You’re like a kitty that got a bad bath.” He points at Hitoshi’s hair that’s soaked and sticking in weird angles. Hitoshi just shakes his head with another snort.

“Whatever you say, bun. Nothing can beat how you look right now though.”

“Zawa will say otherwise once he sees you.”

“Hopefully I’ll be dry by then,” Hitoshi deadpans, making Izuku snicker.

“I d-doubt it.” and with that, Izuku splashes Hitoshi again making him gasp dramatically and let out a playful growl.

“Oh okay, I see how it is. C’mere!” Hitoshi dashes forward, and Izuku squeals when he’s trapped in the Leopard’s arms.

“Nooooooohoohoihhehe- Toshiiiii-” Izuku giggles madly as he’s attacked by tickles, “St-tt-ooooopppp, TOSHIII…” The Jackalope whines, and Hitoshi just continues his tickle attack.

It does come to a stop at some point however, and Izuku is leaning heavily onto Hitoshi trying to catch his breath from the totally unneeded attack. Hitoshi is still laughing which makes Izuku pout, but he doesn’t make an effort to retaliate. Seeing as Hitoshi’s laugh was so nice to hear.

They spend the rest of the time at the waterfall splashing around and at some point just floating together.

When they finally go back to Izuku’s home, Izuku offers for Hitoshi to possibly stay over if Aizawa allows it. Hitoshi, being absolutely weak for Izuku, accepts the offer instantly.

They walk into the home hand in hand, Izuku calling out for Aizawa and hopping in place with energy he somehow still has as he gets ready to recount his entire time at the waterfall to this tired man but the panther raises his hand up to stop him before he opens his mouth and Izuku settles down just slightly, still basically vibrating in place as he waits.

Hitoshi is overly amused by this, especially since he knows that Aizawa is used to the large amount of energy Izuku has.

“Hm.” Aizawa squints over to Hitoshi, then back to Izuku- then back to Hitoshi and lets out a long sigh. “You two kissed, didn’t you?”

They both blink in utter confusion, but don’t deny it and slowly nod.

“Of course you did. Do I need to give the talk or..?”

Izuku is still confused and Hitoshi immediately goes red,

“Absolutely not.” The Leopard wheezes out, “I’d never… Ack- I don’t want to think about that right now please. I promise I’ll treat Izuku right though.” Hitoshi covers his face with his available hand, ignoring the way that Aizawa nods in approval and lets out another sigh.

“I’ll call Nemuri to let her know you’re staying over, as I’m assuming that’s why you haven’t left yet. You still have your clothes from before here, go get them and take a shower. Izuku, use my bathroom and take a shower as well. You both smell like fish.” The Panther deadpans, but softens when seeing Izuku’s pout at not being allowed to speak. “Izuku you can tell me about the waterfall afterwards, we don’t want the couch soaked, hm?”

Izuku sprints off at that after rapidly nodding, leaving Hitoshi to stay still awkwardly before pointing towards the bathroom and, “Right uh, be right back…” Then he slips away to the bathroom.

Aizawa mumbles something about a golden string, making Hitoshi even more confused as he shuts the door behind him.

Red strings turning gold when soulmates find each other and....

Oh.

Shit, maybe Aizawa is telling the truth.

He sighs, just turning on the shower and shaking his head. He’ll think about this later when he’s not thinking about Izuku.

It was hard to not think about Izuku. He might be a little lovestruck.

...Really Lovestruck.

Hitoshi buries his head in his hands and laughs quietly.

He was really happy.

And Izuku was too, seeing as the Jackalope practically jumps into Hitoshi’s arms as soon as they’re both done with their showers and changed. The way that the Jackalope looks up at his Leopard with the softest look perfectly reserved for him- the boy that saved him twice.

How ironic it was- that his foster parents wanted him to stay away from predators. 

And now his father was a predator.

And now his lover was one too.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THEIR STRING TURNED GOLD??? THAT’S SO ADORABLE- OH MY GOD SHO IT’S JUST LIKE US!”

Right right, Izuku also had his very loud dad that matches his energy pretty well.

Though he is confused, what’s this about a golden string?

He looks to Hitoshi for answers, but he seems just as troubled by this and just shrugs to his fluffy haired Jackalope.

Oh well. He’ll probably figure it out later.

After all, Hitoshi was really the only thing on his mind.

That and rambling to his Dads about Hitoshi.

Honestly, a pretty good subject to talk about, if Izuku says so himself.

[Doodles by me! :)]

(UPDATE: new art by me ^-^ nov. 2022)